Nostalgia 77’s long-awaited fourth studio album, ‘The Sleepwalking Society’, featuring the vocals of German singer Josa Peit, is out on 21^st March 2011 on Tru Thoughts.

 

‘The Sleepwalking Society’ comes almost four years after ‘Everything Under The Sun’ - the last Nostalgia 77 studio album proper – in which time Benedic Lamdin has been busy as producer, engineer, musician and more on projects involving Keith and Julie Tippett, Jeb Loy Nichols, Lizzy Parks, Larry Stabbins, Alice Russell, Sara Mitra, Fringe Magnetic, Golden Age of Steam and his own Octet. Nostalgia 77’s fervent fanbase has been clamouring for his return and can now rest assured that it has been worth the wait, as the spoils of those extra-curricular excursions inform a refreshed stylistic palette and intensity on the new LP.

Although Nostalgia 77 is widely known as a jazz producer (with plaudits including the John Peel ‘Play More Jazz’ award, and Gilles Peterson’s Jazz Track of the Year) ‘The Sleepwalking Society’ is rich with overtones of blues and folk and runs the whole range of influences from the different styles of music that he loves. “It feels great to provide another chapter in the Nostalgia 77 story…each time I return with more ideas and experiences from working on projects with other musicians”, says Lamdin.

The album announces its arrival with the ramshackle Tom Waits style stomp of the rhythm track to “Sleepwalker”, paired with horn textures reminiscent of Duke Ellington. The English folk of Bert Jansch influences “Beautiful Lie”; the single, “Simmerdown” (out 28^th February) is one part church song and one part soul. “Golden Morning” - more interlude than song - is a shimmering ray of uplifting psychedelic folk to make the transition into “When Love Is Strange”, a full on break beat Sun Ra style arrangement that provides the heaviest moment on the record, care of Tim Giles´ heroic drumming. It echoes the ambitious, instrumental live jazz of Nostalgia 77 Octet, but heavier. And in addition to the aesthetic progression, in content ´The Sleepwalking Society´ is the most autobiographical Nostalgia 77 work yet, drawing on the subjects of commitment (“Cherries”) and impending fatherhood (“Mockingbird”): very much more a songwriter´s album – a direction inspired significantly by his work producing for Jeb Loy Nichols.

Key to the structure and cohesion of the album was Lamdin’s decision to work with just one vocalist, where he has previously called on a handful of featured singers. The invigoratingly rich-voiced Josa Peit takes on this role like she was born to do it. “I was really taken with her. Josa has an amazing texture to her voice and an intention and intensity that I think is rare in singers these days”, Lamdin expounds. The welcome opposite of an auto-tuned voice for hire, Peit breathes colourful life into Lamdin´s creations; sensual, strong and earthly with a dusting of the ethereal and fanciful, and some bluesy subversions of note and melody. “You can hear a lot of different influences: I’m sure she would cite the great old American women of jazz, I also believe there’s a quirkiness and variety in her delivery that´s very modern too.”   

Nostalgia 77, Josa Peit and band will be touring in 2011. The “Simmerdown” 7” is out on 28^th February.

Nostalgia 77, aka Ben Lamdin, first burst onto the scene with his heavy, new funk based sound in 2002. His hard work and prolific creation process has led to the release of many outstandingly high quality albums in a relatively short amount of time, containing a diverse and varied fusion of styles and influences from more mellow, solemn, moody yet beautiful offerings to more upbeat, heavy funk, hip-hop based beats mixed with dusty old jazz, obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces. This driven sound spectrum of audio offerings led to the development into the full 2007 nu-jazz orchestrated release of ´Everything Under The Sun´ in March 2007. This hard work ethic, gifted writing talent and dedication to his music contributed towards Ben winning the ´Jazz Album of the Year´ award at the ´Gilles Peterson BBC Worldwide Awards´ in 2006.

The success of this release led Lamdin to a style he describes as “a combination of soul and jazz composition with computer based production techniques”. Coming from producing hip hop style beats he had always heard snippets of jazz tracks he loved, so the fuller musical expression of actually making his own jazz music was inevitable.

His cover version of The White Stripes‟ ´Seven Nation Army´ with Alice Russell has also helped bring his ´Jazz Jihad´ mission to a wider audience. Aiming for an edgy sound whilst continuing to search for a more personal expression, Nostalgia 77‟s influences include free and spiritual jazz as well as 60‟s funk and soul and Afro sounds.
2008 saw the release of Nostalgia 77‟s ´One Offs, Remixes & B Sides´ album - an eclectic and stunning collection spanning jazz, hip hop, electronica, funk and more - which has gained dazzling reviews. A host of inspired collaborations on this double CD include guest vocals by eminent jazz diva Beth Rowley and remixes from the likes of Bonobo. Nostalgia 77 recorded a Maida Vale session for Gilles Peterson‟s Radio 1 Worldwide show in May 2008, and his collaborative work last year extended to producing the debut album by new Tru Thoughts signing Lizzy Parks, entitled ´Raise The Roof´. A heady combination of jazz, soul and cinematic soundscapes, Lamdin‟s production on this album perfectly complements Lizzy‟s unique talent as a singer songwriter.
The latest Nostalgia 77 project, produced along with close contemporary and collaborator Riaan Vosloo, is an intriguing collaboration with bona fide legends of contemporary jazz and avant-garde experimental music, Keith and Julie Tippett. Entitled ´Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith And Julie Tippett´, the album came out in April 2009; it is a collection of beautiful original material that spans blues, jazz and soul music, threaded through with experimental flourishes, and represents a journey of musical discovery for all the artists involved. Lamdin and Vosloo also recently co-produced the second album by Lizzy Parks, released in June 2009, and are presiding over a handful of new releases on their co-founded Impossible Ark label, including the Nostalgia 77 side-project ´Skeletons´, a critically acclaimed collection of African Jazz inspired pieces which came out in March 2010.
Having spent much of the last few years producing albums for his own Impossible Ark (Sara Mitra, Jeb Loy Nichols, Skeletons) imprint the long-awaited fourth studio Nostalgia 77 album, ´The Sleepwalking Society´ featuring the vocals of German singer Josa Peit, is out March 2011 on Tru Thoughts.

Contact

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